


1. On the Road Again

by seajelly (Legless_fish_on_rollerskates)



Series: trio's #suptober20 fics [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel is Jack Kline's Parent, Dean Winchester is Jack Kline's Parent, Driving Lessons, Gen, Humor, Lowkey Crack, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Oneshot, Sam Winchester is Jack Kline's Parent, Suptober 2020 (Supernatural), They're trying okay, father-son bonding, jack doesn't always understand how normal humans do things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26765785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legless_fish_on_rollerskates/pseuds/seajelly
Summary: We all know that Dean taught Jack to drive in Season 14 — but Sam and Cas don’t
Relationships: Castiel & Jack Kline, Jack Kline & Dean Winchester, Jack Kline & Sam Winchester
Series: trio's #suptober20 fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950793
Comments: 12
Kudos: 130





	1. On the Road Again

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason I decided to do a challenge this month. I don’t know why. I’m insanely overworked and stressed right now. I don’t even have time to write the words I get paid for, why do I think I can do this? Also, guess who needs glasses now from staring at screens all day? (me. it’s me. damn you, chuck)
> 
> But hey, screw real life.

Jack looked up when Sam knocked on his doorframe, holding up a ring of keys. “Yes?”

“Hey, I’m running to the store, I thought maybe you might want to, uh,” Sam grinned nervously and jangled the keys a little. “Drive me there?”

Jack blinked. “Okay, sure.” He hadn’t really driven much in the year and a half since Dean had first taught him, but it was fun and he didn’t have anything better to do. He did wonder why Sam couldn’t drive himself, though. Maybe he had gotten more hurt on their last hunt than he had let on?

Getting up to follow Sam to the garage, Jack snuck a quick look at his soul. Sam didn’t seem to be injured, which was good. But now Jack was confused.

When they got to the garage, Sam tossed Jack the keys, which turned out to be for the small car in the corner. Jack frowned. “Not the Impala?”

Sam laughed, “Dude, are you kidding? Dean would skin me alive if I let you drive the Impala right now.”

Jack supposed that was fair; Dean didn’t like other people driving his car when he wasn’t in it to supervise (or, “micromanage,” as Sam would call it). He shrugged and unlocked the tiny car.

“Okay, so, first thing’s first, make sure you adjust the seat so you can reach the pedals comfortably,” Sam said to Jack, who was already doing that. “Alright, great, now here’s how you should set up your side mirrors.”

Sam went on to explain to Jack how to position the rearview mirror, how to shift gears, and how to start the car, all of which Jack already knew. Jack was utterly perplexed, and a little bit annoyed. He cut off Sam’s explanation of the turn signals to ask, “Why are you doing this, Sam?”

Sam stopped. “Oh. Um, well, it’s a useful skill to have. And it’s like, y’know… a dad thing to do with your kid. Do, uh. Do you not want to?”

“No, I do!” Jack rushed to reassure him. He understood now. Learning to drive was considered a father-son bonding ritual in human society. It wouldn’t be fair to Sam for Jack to learn to drive with Dean but not with him. He didn’t want any of his fathers to feel like he preferred one of them over the others. He would have to make sure Cas taught him how to drive at some point, too.

Sam spent a lot more time than Dean had going over how to do everything before letting Jack actually start the car. He pulled out of the garage smoothly, and Sam nodded, impressed. Once they were out on the road, though, Sam was tense. Dean had told Jack to trust his instincts, pay attention to how the car sounded and felt, and adjust accordingly. Sam was much more vocal and specific with his instructions, walking Jack through every step of the process. It got on Jack’s nerves a little bit, but he didn’t want to hurt Sam’s feelings, so he said nothing. 

(Jack did note, though, that if someone was talking to Sam like this, he would definitely label it “micromanaging”)

The drive to the store was largely uneventful—few cars were on the road in the middle of the day on a Tuesday in Lebanon. When they got back to the bunker, Jack parked easily and Sam grinned at him.

“Nice job, kid.”

Jack smiled back as he went to help with the groceries. It felt good to make Sam happy.

  
  
  


A few weeks later found Jack and Cas binge-watching  _ Stranger Things  _ in the Deancave. Cas laughed out loud when Steve freaked out over Max driving his car, and Jack took the opportunity to turn to him and ask, “Are you going to teach me how to drive?”

“I—what?” Cas paused the tv. “You want  _ me  _ to teach you how to drive?”

“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

Cas blinked. “I would’ve thought Dean…” 

“You’re just as much my dad as he is,” Jack promised, with a fierceness that made Cas squint at him.

“Um. Okay. Yes, I can teach you, if you’d like me to.” Cas was still squinting in confusion, and it made Jack hurt inside to know that Cas had assumed that Jack would choose Dean over him. He resolved to spend some extra time with Cas in the next few weeks.

Starting with finishing their  _ Stranger Things  _ marathon.

  
  
  


Cas admitted to Jack that he had learned to drive primarily by watching Dean, though he had also looked up several car safety videos on the internet. “Are you sure you want to learn this from me? I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“That’s okay. Teach me what you know.”

Cas shrugged, and started going over the parts of the car and what they did. Jack watched quietly, nodding when it felt appropriate. “What does that do?” he asked at one point, pointing at a button that both Dean and Sam had failed to mention. Cas stared at it for a second.

“I have no idea. I read the driver’s manual in preparation for this lesson, but it didn’t mention that.” He looked frustrated with himself.

Jack placed a hand on his shoulder. “If the manual didn’t say anything then it’s probably not important, right?”

Cas sighed. “Maybe you should ask Dean.”

Jack frowned. Was Cas upset that Jack had learned from Dean first? But no, this wasn’t Cas’s passive-aggressive voice (and Cas was passive-aggressive a  _ lot _ , so Jack would know). He seemed genuinely confused. Jack squeezed his shoulder a little bit. “Let’s get out of this garage.”

Cas’s teaching style was about as opposite from Sam’s as it could get. Even Dean had given Jack some suggestions, corrected his missteps. Cas only ever answered direct questions, otherwise sitting quietly and looking somewhat out of his depth. When they got back to the bunker, Cas nodded at him. 

“You were remarkably good at that.”

“Thanks!” Jack said happily, and headed off to the kitchen for a snack. Cas watched him go, a vaguely confused expression on his face.

  
  
  


Sam was sitting in the library when Cas walked in, looking nonplussed. 

“Hey Cas. What’s up?”

“Hello Sam,” said Cas, picking up a book from the table and flipping through it randomly. 

“You okay, dude?”

“I’m fine,” said Cas. He looked at Sam with a tiny smile. “I just taught Jack how to drive.”

Sam blinked. “You just  _ what _ ?”

“I was surprised when he asked me, too. I would have assumed Dean would want to.” Cas shrugged. “But he insisted.”

“He…  _ asked you _ to teach him to drive?”

Cas nodded. “I’m not sure how good of a teacher I actually was, considering the fact that I never formally learned myself, but I thought he did a very good job.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s because I taught him how to drive back in August.”

Cas froze, a slightly hurt expression flitting across his features, before he furrowed his brow. “If he already knew how to drive, then why…”

“I have no idea,” Sam laughed a little. “What the heck, man?”

“It does explain some things,” admitted Cas. “But it also raises quite a few more questions.”

“Questions about what?” asked Dean, walking in with several beers in hand.

“Well, apparently, Cas taught Jack to drive today,” explained Sam, taking the beer that was passed to him. “Except I also taught him to drive, like, six weeks ago.”

Dean frowned. “You’re joking, right?”

“No, he’s not.” Cas shook his head. “We’re both rather confused.”

“Uh, guys. Seriously? I taught him to drive  _ a year and a half ago. _ ”

“Wait,  _ what?  _ When?” exclaimed Sam.

“Back when he was dying! What did you think we were doing all day?”

“He said you went fishing,” said Cas, looking lost.

“Well yeah, we did that too.”

“Hold on, hold on, back up.  _ What? _ ”

“Come on, Sam, I wasn’t gonna let him die without ever getting to drive Baby! He deserved that much!”

“So we all taught him to drive separately,” confirmed Cas.

“How did that even happen?”

Sam shrugged. “I mean, at least he definitely knows how to drive now. That’s good, right?”

They all sort of stared at one another for a minute, before Dean said, “Dibs on calling Jody to tell her this story.”

“Oh my god,” muttered Sam, laughing and shaking his head. “I just—why didn't he say anything?”

“He’s a weird kid,” shrugged Dean. “He does weird things.”

“You kill monsters for a living,” Cas pointed out. “Your entire life could be classified as a ‘weird thing.’” 

Dean chuckled. “I’ll drink to that.”

When Jack walked into the library, he smiled at the sight of his dads laughing and drinking together. His family was happy and whole. It made him feel safe. Sam raised his eyebrows when he noticed him.

“Hey Jack.” Sam nodded at him, trying not to laugh. “D’you mind, uh. Mind explaining what on  _ Earth  _ is going on?”

Jack tilted his head in consideration. “Well, in Lebanon a dog is peeing on a tree, in Sioux Falls Jody is arguing with Claire, in that corner over there a spider is building a web…”

And he was off, explaining to Sam in detail exactly what was going on everywhere on Earth. Dean and Cas shared a look. Jack was their weird, confusing, ridiculous kid.

And they wouldn’t have him any other way.  


**Author's Note:**

>   
>  if you feel so inclined to reblog this fic on [tumblr](https://legless-fish-on-rollerskates.tumblr.com/post/630837663000313856/1-on-the-road-again)  
> 


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